Assertiveness

What is Assertiveness?

Some people think that assertiveness training turns nice people into petulant complainers or cunning controllers. This is not true. It's your right to protect yourself when something seems unfair.

Assertion means:

·        Standing up for what you are entitled to.

·        Stating your needs clearly.

·        It means expressing resistance correctly

·        It means altercation and it takes courage.

 

Assertiveness does not come naturally to all because we have all learned submissive behaviours to ward off argumentative or confrontational situations. Some find it harder than others because of their natural easy-going style and therefore more practice is required. However these behaviours can be exiled and assertive behaviour can be used to produce results that benefit both parties. The aim should not be just to win. The aim should be to solve the problem and get the best result. In a healthy professional workplace we have to be able to set clear boundaries around work demands and pressures.

Who is Assertiveness training for?

·        people who are just too nice for their own good;

·        people who work in a working culture that always say 'yes';

·        people who just want to avoid confrontation and

· people who may even be feeling bullied or victimised.

Assertiveness training does not teach the student to be aggressive, loud, or bullying, although it may well help them to stand up to those who are. Assertiveness is not about trying to dominate others: it is a more a matter of resisting those who seek to dominate and manipulate you. Assertiveness training courses and workshops can help delegates increase work effectiveness and productivity, achieve greater control of their daily activities and overcome work stress, whilst at the same time giving them a method to achieve the same goals in their social life, reducing the amount of stress they bring to work.

 

Our assertive training helps staff of all levels, including senior/junior managers, directors, administrative and technical staff, to understand the processes which will make them more effective and increase their confidence and sense of achievement thereby showing an increased productivity through more effective communication.

By attending our Assertiveness training, employees will experience a different workplace surrounding by
 

• managing time more effectively and enjoying greater self-esteem
• Increasing confidence in handling difficult behaviour in others

·     enjoying a more balanced lifestyle

·     increasing work effectiveness and productivity

·     feeling more in control of their daily activities

• reducing stress levels reducing interruptions at work
• gaining more time for creative and development opportunities
• improving decision making and reducing postponing things

· being able to cope with colleagues and friends effectively

 

In addition, we can help employees recognise when they are being abused or tricked for someone else's benefit, and how to resist such treatment effectively without becoming angry and aggressive. It emphasises the value of clear, calm communication as a means of establishing relationships in which everyone knows where they stand and no-one feels ill-treated or abused.

Many students on assertiveness training courses have been people who have suffered a loss of self-confidence due to destructive relationships in their personal or working lives. However, not all assertiveness training students are people who feel downtrodden and abused. Some people in positions of authority seek assertiveness training in order to learn how to persuade people to do as they wish without having to become a bully.